Sudbury man charged with repeated attacks on girlfriend

A Framingham woman told a judge on Friday that her Sudbury boyfriend twice attacked her, trying to smother her with a pillow on one occasion and choking her on another.

Sudbury Police arrested John Welch, 29, at his 39 Churchill St., home at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

In Framingham District Court on Friday, Welch was both arraigned and had a hearing to determine if he was a danger to the public.

During the hearing, his girlfriend, 21, told Judge David Cunis that she met Welch on Facebook in March 2013. They began dating and everything went well until October.

"He started to get angry, he said cruel things and he called me vicious names," the woman said.

In May, the verbal abuse became physical, she said. She was not allowed to be at his home because of a disagreement with his family, so he would sneak her in. One morning, he woke up and immediately got angry with her about noise, she said.

"He smothered me with a pillow because his mother was in the other room and he didn't want her to hear me."

Then, on June 8, again in his home, the woman said Welch threw a shoe at her, striking her in the face and splitting her lip. He also began to choke her, and then told her she was exaggerating how hard he was choking her.

Later, when he and a friend brought her home, Welch would not let her out of the car until she composed herself because he did not want her family to know she was upset, the woman said.

Prosecutor Nate Burris asked Cunis to hold Welch without bail as a danger to the public, but Welch's lawyer, Charles Hughes, argued for his client's release.

He said the woman got a restraining order against Welch last week and never mentioned the June 8 incident. She only reported it after Welch obtained a restraining order against her. He also told the judge the woman once admitted to sufficient facts in a case that charged her with filing a false police report.

"This is made up," said Hughes. "All of a sudden she goes to the police when she gets served his restraining order on her."

Cunis did not hold Welch, 29, as a danger. He set Welch's bail at $500. He also ordered Welch held without bail until Monday when he appears in Essex Superior Court on a warrant. He is on probation for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol (fourth offense) and the court issued a warrant based on Friday's arrest.

Welch is due back in court on July 16 for a pretrial conference.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date crime news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW.